It took a minute for the audience to realize that one half of this hip-hop duo was CH2M Hill executive Faye Wilson Tate. (Photo by Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post)

You sure can’t tell a book by its cover. I say that not to turn a phrase but to give you some idea of the surpises that were in store for the 600-plus who gathered at the Renaissance Denver Hotel on Saturday night to help Cleo Parker Robinson Dance celebrate its 40th anniversary.

The evening’s theme, Dancing with the Denver Stars, was carried out by the 13 civic leaders recruited to show off their best moves — with help from members of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. Some played it (relatively) safe while others exposed a side that even their closest friends didn’t know existed.

Like Faye Wilson Tate. Most people know her as a high-powered corporate executive who has a beautiful singing voice and rarely misses a Sunday church service. But for Dancing with the Denver Stars, the CH2M Hill vice president and director of diversity became a hip-hop queen dressed in low-slung jeans, sunglasses and duck-bill hat to keep the beat with H.D. Horner, who hails from Nashville and is in his third season with CPRD.

They sure know how to pick ’em:
For 25 years, Denver chapter of The Links, Inc. has been paying public tribute to the community’s outstanding young people by staging the Tribute To Black Youth. The idea for such an event came from member Letitia “Tish” Williams after she attended an awards luncheon put on by Colorado Black Women for Political Action.
“I thought, ‘If they can do that for adult women, why can’t the Links do that for young people?’ ” A dancer-choreographer who recently retired from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Williams made her proposal and it was enthusiastically received.
The first Tribute To Black Youth Luncheon was held in 1984; 12 students were honored. Members of the inaugural class were Rhonda Askew, Troy Brooks, Patrice Carroll, Toiya Castleman, Francine Marie Chase, Valerie Clark, Charles Okeke, Karen Peay, Rance Poole, Bethsheba Ross, Sondra Sells and Murray Jean Wallace.
Students are recommended by their school teachers and/or counselors. They must exhibit strong character, academic achievement, a history of school and community service, leadership potential and talent. Special consideration is given to those who are living in difficult circumstances and have overcome the odds to emerge as leaders and achievers.
Distinguished alumni include Denver City Council President Michael Hancock, who was honored in 1985; 2005’s Malcolm Glenn, who has just been named president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper; 1986’s Gregory Crichlow, now an architect; and 1990’s Damon Barry, corporate counsel for CSG Systems and a sports agent specializing in National Football League clients. In 2001, Ebony magazine named him one of 30 Leaders of the Future.
“We embraced her idea,” recalled Kathryn Gavin, who has both chaired the event and developed new aspects of it, “and have been able to honor some fantastic, fantabulous young people. Our former honorees have all moved well beyond our benchmarks.”
Tribute To Black Youth now includes a series of workshops on issues important to the honorees: enhancing self-esteem, taking college entrance exams, finding financial aid, socialization, economic and political issues, and writing a resume. The honorees also take part in chapter philanthropic efforts, visit community cultural and artistic venues, and attend a reception in their honor.
Speaking at this year’s reception was 2003 honoree Sharoia Taylor, a student at the University of Denver and the recipient of a $5,000 scholarship from the Girls, Inc. Alliance.
Twenty-three 8th-through-12th graders were recognized at the 25th anniversary edition of Tribute To Black Youth. The luncheon was held at the Renaissance Denver Hotel and was chaired by Sherry Jackson, Victoria Scott-Haynes and Marsha Johnson. Mistress of ceremonies was 1989 honoree Jennifer Daniel Collins, whose mother, Ida Daniel, is the chapter president.Heather Barry introduced the Class of 2007: Dorian Adams, an 8th grader at Hamilton Middle School; Adrienne Bauduit, a senior at Boulder High School; Monica Bellaire, a senior at Machebeuf High School; Sidra Bonner, a senior at Kent Denver School; Maya Burchette, a senior at East High School; Tre Burnett; a 10th grader at Columbine High School; Dustin Caldwell, an 11th grader at Machebeuf High School; Joshua Dickerson, a senior at Overland High School; Vanessa Emerson, an 11th grader at Aurora Central High School; Charlotte Epperson, a senior at Montbello High School; Renae Eze, a senior at Columbine; Darin Feagins, a 9th grader at Kent; and Tayler Fleming, a 9th grader at Stanley British Primary School.
Also, Elise Goodgaine, a senior at Legacy High School; Devin Hardin, a 9th grader at Overland; Chinyere Isaac Heslop, a senior at Gateway High School; Rebekah Johnson, a senior at East; Gretchen Schlueter, a senior at Machebeuf; Britney Taylor, a 10th grader at Rangeview; Shaquille Turner, a senior at East; and Terrance Walker, an 11th grader at Cherry Creek High School.
In addition, five adults were recognized.Vincent Harding, one of the nation’s leading authorities on African-American history and the religion and social justice movements, received the Albert C. Yates Education Award. He was the first director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center for Social Change and the founding director of the Institute of the Black World, both in Atlanta. He taught at Spelman College, Temple University, Swarthmore College and Iliff School of Theology, and was senior consultant to the PBS series, “Eyes on the Prize.” With his late wife, Rosemarie, he founded the Veterans of Hope Project.
The Fairfax B. Holmes Award went to dancer-choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson; Carlotta LaNier, one of the Little Rock Nine, received the President’s Award; Moses Brewer and Coors Brewing Co. received the Silver Appreciation Award, and Tish Williams was given the Founder’s Award.

Pictures taken at Tribute To Black Youth can be viewed at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com.

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.